FAQ: Why can't I just do archery in my backyard?

Q

Frequently Asked Question:

"Why can't I just do archery in my backyard?"

A

In theory you can, but it is a problem of how safely can you do it.

If you own a farm, a cabin in the woods, or a similar large property nobody is going to complain about you shooting on your own property in a safe and reasonable manner.

If you own a property in a town or city you need to be taking precautions to make certain what you are doing is still being done in a safe manner. Eg. Higher fences, using some kind of a backstop, shooting on a downward angle so the arrow is certain to be hitting the ground or the backstop, etc.

Now we could imagine if you don't do these things what might happen, but instead I am going to tell the story of an incident which was told to me via word-of-mouth by another archer.

It involves a 12-year-old boy shooting a youth compound bow (depending upon the poundage youth compound bows can still be used for hunting and are still deadly) in his parents' lane way near the garage beside their suburban home. The father meanwhile was cleaning the backyard and while the son normally shot in the backyard in a safe manner due to the backyard being busy the father gave his son permission to shoot in the lane way, but he wasn't supervising what his son was actually doing.

What happened next is a bit predictable.

The child began shooting in an increasingly reckless manner. He started shooting from further away, walking into the street and shooting across the street and into the lane way. He also started shooting higher and eventually nearly straight up to see where the arrow would land. One of the neighbours complained, asking the child to please shoot in a safer manner.

The father still wasn't paying attention and was unaware his son was shooting so recklessly. He was also unaware of the exchange with the neighbour.

The son ignored the neighbour and continued to shoot in this dangerous manner. Eventually one of his arrows came down and hit a passing motorist's car in the front windshield, giving the driver quite the fright and causing hundreds of dollars in damages.

The driver, under the impression that the child had shot at his car deliberately, immediately called the police.

Police arrived to find the driver in a shouting match with the father, with the driver wanting to be paid for the damages to his car and threatening to sue, plus accusing the son of attempted murder.

The neighbour stepped in and gave a statement to the police, confirming that it had been accidental, but that the son had been behaving in a reckless manner by shooting arrows straight up, etc.

Police then arrested the father (not the son) for Reckless Endangerment with a Firearm, and fined him $4000. They also confiscated the compound bow and arrows as evidence and took photographs of the crime scene/damages.

The father tried to initially plead ignorance of the law, claiming he didn't know it was illegal, but ignorance of the law is not a defense. If someone accidentally kills someone due to negligence or by behaving recklessly they are still considered to be guilty in the eyes of the law even if they claim that they didn't know that being negligent or reckless was illegal. Why? Because it is common sense that if you're doing something dangerous that someone could get hurt. He later pleaded guilty, served one month in prison, paid the $4000 fine, and was forced to pay for the damages to the driver's car.

The son received a weapons ban, prohibiting him from owning any kind of firearms. It is unknown when or whether the weapons ban would expire*.

* I looked it up. In Ontario a weapons ban is 10 years for a first offense. For life if it is a second offense.

The father was lucky he didn't get sued and his son was lucky not to be charged with something worse.

Assuming that the son doesn't get into additional trouble in the future, he would be allowed to own weapons when he reaches the age of 22.

Now this is admittedly an extreme example of why people need to be careful. Shooting in the backyard is certainly safer than shooting in the front yard, and any children shooting should definitely be supervised.

After hearing this story I tried looking it up to see if it was the media, but it was not. Instead I found similar stories, usually involving people getting injured or killed. Which I kind of understand why those stories would get more media attention. "If it bleeds it leads" and so forth. A damaged car doesn't seem that newsworthy in comparison.

And certainly this doesn't happen very often because most people have common sense, but it does happen and there are reasons why Reckless Endangerment with a Firearm carries a prison sentence and a fine, and likewise there are reasons why bows and crossbows are considered to be firearms in the eyes of the law.

So yes, it is entirely possible to do archery in your backyard. But you need to do so with a degree of caution because bows are legally considered to be firearms.

I know of multiple people who do archery in their backyards or on their private property. Most archers have built their own mini archery range in such circumstances, not just for safety reasons, but also because they don't want to damage or lose arrows.

You're not limited to your backyard either. Some people build a private range in their garage, in their basement, or even in their attic like the photo on the above right. Owning a large property is certainly ideal, but for those who don't having a small space in their attic or similar location is what works for them.

I have also heard of people renting a tractor trailer or a storage unit and building a private archery range inside such a space.

Sincerely,
Charles Moffat
CardioTrek.ca